Following a discussion with some friends about a number of movies, we then progressed into films that had been adapted from books. Suddenly the discussion group was reduced to myself and one other person. The rest seemed totally out of depth and when queried all of them stated they don’t really read books though will flick through the odd magazine.
The realisation that reading is becoming almost “lost” to people was given credence by the fact that our DVD collection draws more interest than our very extensive book collection! And that I can’t remember the last time I heard anyone say “I read a great book recently”.
Have we truly turned our backs on the faithful book?
Surely I am not the only person who still thinks that a quiet night in would often include a comfy sofa, a cup of tea and a good book?
The bookshelves in our house are packed to the gills with trilogies or series – everything from Agatha Christie’s crime to Robert Jordan’s fantasy! Fiction and non-fiction squeeze on the shelves covering extensive ranges of all genres and sizes. Every book is slightly worn from being read over and over.
There is always something exciting about buying a new book that I don’t think you can get from a DVD or even a magazine. Especially if that book was part of a series that you had been welcomed to. Eagerly you schedule time for quiet. Huddle up somewhere warm and comfy, turn off the noise makers (computers / TVs) and with a turn of the page you are pulled into another place, to walk in someone else’s shoes and become gripped in their lives, their emotions.
Books are companions, fitting snugly into handbags and rucksacks; they are travelling partners making train journeys and flights more bearable. They last for hours, even when we fight to put them down in order to get a half-decent night’s sleep. (What reader hasn’t found themselves awake at 2:00am gripped in an incredible plot?)
Some of my earliest memories are of my parents reading from books with my favourite as a child being The House at Pooh Corner by A A Milne. I still have the copy, it is tatty with many pages falling out but it remains faithfully on the shelves and I still read it now J (though I admit I don’t do the voices like my mum used to!)
Even those who once seemed to have a passion for books are almost impatient for the movie rendition to fill the big screens.
Now I am not criticising movies after all I love movies. However I personally feel they do not come close to the enjoyment that can be gained from a good book. It is a physical interaction, the feel of it in your hands, the sound of a page turning and even the smell of the paper. You can sit with a book in a crowded airport and see / hear nothing but what the book gives you.
A book is never read the same way. A hundred people can read the same book and each one will have a unique experience. The image of the characters, the dialect of the narrative, the emotions portrayed and even the pronunciation will always be interpreted differently by everyone who reads it. You do not get that kind of personal interaction with a movie.
So are these quiet moments lost? Have we moved away from the worlds created for us by authors who shared their minds and imaginations within a few pages? Has the worlds of fantasy, romance, crime all been reduced down only to be experienced through pixels on a screen rather than in the magic of a book?
I would love to hear from any of you who enjoy reading as much as I do. Tell me of your favourite book, where your "reading" place is and what you’re reading now!
Categories: lifestyle
What great thoughts! it is so true, people are crazy! I LOVE books and would rather sit and read all day then even go near the tv! however, as a kid i was always made to feel a bit of a geek for enjoying reading and actually being good at it. But i loved it anyway so fortunately carried on doing it. My daughter loves it and because of this she is very good at it, she is already a full yr ahead of herself at school in her reading program. I do the voices for her, despite her dad laughing at my interpretation of the fat controller, but when visiting the library we always attract the other kids, interested to hear the story too, sometimes i feel like the pied piper! one of my friends and I had a discussion about films adapted from books and decided they were all terrible and none of them could even compete against the book! They are always so different, and i find this a let down! My favourite book is ever-changing, it was Jane Eyre, then Atonement, and i fully recommend the Cross Stitch series by Diana Gabaldon for those with some time on their hands, they’re 6 big books! but at the moment it is ‘The Time Traveller’s Wife,’ it is so emotive, and for days after it made me feel sad, a sure sign of a good book. Not looking forward to the film very much though. I will read almost anything, at the moment it is ‘Lucky Jim’ by Kingsley Amis, its a comedy. what kind of books do you read Maddy and is there anything you wouldn’t consider reading? Would you consider getting an electronic reader? i once had this discussion with my fella and i couldn’t eloquently explain why the experience would not come close to a real book, but i think you summed it up perfectly! great article!
Excellent article Maddy and I hope the answer is a resounding No, No, No!! I too adore reading and can’t imagine living without it. I’ve had periods of one or two months without reading a book (usually when I became obsessed with reading every single word of The Ecologist or New Consumer latest issue – not a bad replacement, in my opinion) but always come back to books. I have so many favourite books my top 10 is often changing but will probably always include T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland which I can read over and over and over… Peter Ackroyd’s Hawksmoor and J.D Salinger’s Franny & Zooey all of which had a profound effect on me when first reading, plus I studied the former two in school at a particularly tempestuous time in my life! I lost myself totally in the magic of the stories and words and was quite swept up in the drama of other worlds and lives. Whilst movies can, and indeed have, had a similar effect on me, I find that the effects don’t last as long or go as deep. There is something about reading from a real book, held in our hands, carried around with us for days/weeks/months even years, the fold of the corners when a book mark has been misplaced, the smell of new paper or even better, the smell of musty bookshelves acquired from a second-hand book store, the scribbles made by previous readers, their name printed neatly or scrawled carelessly on the inside cover, a certain timeless quality, all these things, along with engaging contents of course, make a book far more potent than even the best film ever could be (and I do love a good movie). Perhaps it’s the ability to touch and hold and thus feel more engaged with a book than one can with a dvd which relies on a machine to be played or a film viewed at the cinema with many other people. Although I don’t watch nearly as many films today as I used to, I do enjoy movies based on books and appreciate them for what they are – an addition to rather than replacement of the written article. I loved the Lord Of The Rings films (though made sure I read the books first) and am excited about Lovely Bones which is released soon. It will be different from my experience of the book but I’m sure I’ll love it anyway, in a different way. I like to read in bed late at night (much to my partner’s annoyance!) and am currently being amused by Charlotte Gilman’s Herland having finally finished the epic but awesome Underground by Don DeLilo! Books rule!
Am really enjoying this discussion : ). I was thinking about the article last night in fact. Hubby and I were settling down on the sofa to watch an installment of Desperate Romantics on BBCiplayer. We decided to download it rather than stream it because it was playing quite erratically. Anyway, the download ended up taking yonks and yonks and hubby was getting very impatient. I took out my crochet, and he grabbed a book from the bookshelf – Spike Milligan’s “Milligan’s War” – and then, bless him, started reading it out loud for both of us to enjoy. Oh we were in STITCHES!! Needless to say, the download finished and we were still snorting away and couldn’t be bothered to watch it because we were enjoying ourselves too much. Yum.
Hi Sarah Thanks for the comment! Oh yes, I remember being treated like a “geek” for enjoying books over video games. You’re right, no film ever does the book justice. I like it when I see a film that is based on a book, but I didn’t realise until the end. That way I get to enjoy it again, even more so, with the book! Personally I feel films from books are only good if the writer themselves had SOME hand in it! (eg: Hogfather – Terry Pratchett) though the book is still way better. I shall look out for those books, I love huge book series! I love fantasy, especially epic sagas that can keep you going for days! These days I can’t read a book unless it’s a series! My favourites are The Wi’tch War Saga by James Clemens and The Quickening by Fiona McIntosh. I’m not a big fan on “real life” books as I like my “fantasy/escapism” and find there is enough real life drama on the news. I also don’t enjoy biographies, they just don’t grab me (even of people I like). Electronic readers are definitely not something I would waste my money on. In the end it’s still a screen and you lose the true essence of the book – the smell, the touch of paper!
Hi Rach Thanks for the comment. I have moments of putting away the books. When we still got The New Scientist through subscription, I enjoyed reading them and so the novels took a back seat. Only until I got hooked on another trilogy! I love finding new books and authors I’ve never heard, especially if they turn out to be brilliant books that really grab me! I will look out for TS Eliot’s The Wasteland. I fell in love with TS Eliot’s work after reading “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” those poems are wonderful! Movies are good in their own way but yes they can never replace the “feel” of a book. What you mentioned about books with scribbled notes and peoples names in the cover… I always hated that until I found a copy of Watership Down by Richard Adams at a jumble sale for 50p (total bargain!) with someone’s name and notes in it. It was very weathered and well used as it had obviously been re-read hundreds of times. This made it a great treasure to me, that I was sharing in this brilliant book that had been thumbed by so many people before me.
Hi Clara That is so cool to end up reading when the technology took too long
I always find it a great atmosphere with books, especially when you have a really good one that can be shared!